The shadow of Alemanno and Vannacci over Rome’s centre-right

The elections to renew the Rome City Council are drawing near and, as things stand – and despite the high-sounding proclamations made over the summer – the centre-right has yet to put forward an official candidate. At present, the names of Roberta Angelilli and Fabio Rampelli are being bandied about; two heavyweight figures who could not be further apart, effectively representing two different factions within Fratelli d’Italia. While Forza Italia and the League are urging the selection process to be speeded up, those in Via della Scrofa are still dragging their feet. Yet a long shadow looms over the capital and the fate of the centre-right, and that is the shadow of Gianni Alemanno. Ever since his release from prison and his embrace – both metaphorical and literal – with Roberto Vannacci, the former mayor has become a tireless driving force behind the party led by the general.

Less in the public eye than the MEP – who now follows a strategy of constant provocation to remain in the spotlight and thus continue to bask in the media limelight – Alemanno has been travelling the length and breadth of Italy in recent months, organising events and attracting former activists and businesspeople, political leaders and supporters. As the focal point of growing interest, there is no doubt that Alemanno’s social right has become the backbone of a party otherwise grappling with no small amount of internal turmoil, and of which it is, to date, undoubtedly the most organised and strongest core. And this is a core which, whilst active in Veneto, Lombardy, Tuscany and various other Italian regions, has its heart in Rome. In Rome, in fact, the social right’s platform provides the common ground that unites virtually all right-wing parties, from FdI to the Lega and, indeed, right through to Futuro Nazionale. Not to mention that the political trajectory of Alemanno – the only right-wing mayor in the capital’s recent history – has intersected with that of a great many politicians who are now leading figures in centre-right parties.

Alemanno’s five-year administration has, in fact, brought together and united, in various roles, politicians who are now active in FdI or the Lega. Not just elected representatives, but party officials and ordinary activists too. That entire hidden, unseen world drives political action on a day-to-day basis, on the ground. Precisely thanks to Alemanno and his deep roots in Rome, Vannacci knows full well that he can count on an unprecedented political showcase; the election campaign for Rome, in fact, far from being merely a stepping stone to a local election, is a contest inevitably destined to take on national significance. It follows – and they are well aware of this at Via della Scrofa – that Alemanno and his allies can carry out a relentless campaign to erode the Roman base of Fratelli d’Italia, aiming to poach leading figures, members and, above all, votes, by emulating what Vannacci has already done at national level to the detriment of the Lega.

Against this backdrop, the centre-right’s choice of candidate will no longer be merely a challenge to Roberto Gualtieri but will take on the form of a political battle against the radical right as well: a weak candidacy would therefore risk steering the Roman electorate – which has always looked to a certain social right – towards Vannacci and weighing down the centre-right at a national level, filling the sails of Vannacci and Alemanno’s ship. Moreover, the precedent set by Enrico Michetti’s candidacy – with Carlo Calenda reaching 19 per cent, partly thanks to disillusioned centre-right voters – should set off a very clear alarm bell for Giorgia Meloni and her sister Arianna, who, despite some rumours, is unlikely to agree to stand for mayor. Choosing the wrong candidate – and openly playing to lose – risks proving a very costly mistake, even at national level.